New child sex shock hits Plett
Schoolteacher charged with assaulting little boy as list of Garden Route cases increases
ASTRING of shocking cases of sexual abuse of children on the Garden Route has again been highlighted after a teacher was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy at his school.
The Plettenberg Bay community has been rocked by this latest claim of child sex abuse which follows a worrying number of crimes against children in the usually tranquil holiday town over the past six months.
There have been several others on the Garden Route in the past year.
The latest incident has also underscored the vast disparity between the number of Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit officers in a large region – only 17 – and that of a city like Port Elizabeth which has more than 60.
The 42-year-old primary school teacher, who cannot be named until he has pleaded, appeared briefly in the Plettenberg Bay Magistrate’s Court yesterday following his arrest at his home on Monday evening.
He stared straight ahead as several family members, friends and community members packed the gallery.
His appearance comes after a Grade 2 pupil’s guardian reported the alleged incidents to police.
Police spokesman Captain Malcolm Pojie said the guardian suspected something was wrong when the boy suddenly started wetting his bed.
“She decided to interview the boy who told her that the suspect had [allegedly] sexually assaulted him on two occasions in May at a swimming pool and at school respectively.”
A case docket was opened earlier this month, Pojie said.
The case was later handed over to the George FCS unit. The court case was postponed to July 2 for a bail application. State prosecutor Henriette Breedt indicated that she would be opposing bail.
The suspect, who is being represented by attorney John Gillespie, will remain in custody until his next court appearance.
Western Cape Department of Education spokeswoman Jessica Shelver said officials viewed the allegation in an extremely serious light and that the matter would be investigated internally.
She said the department generally decided on the suspension of a teacher based on the bail conditions.
“The very strong likelihood is that the court will bar this teacher from the school, if he is granted bail.
“If not, the department will look at suspension,” Shelver said.
Garden Route spokeswoman for Women and Men Against Child Abuse Yvette Wilschut said she was horrified and frightened by the alarming rate of sex crimes against children on the Garden Route.
“You can just look at the number of cases which have made headlines in recent months to realise there is a problem,” Wilschut said.
She said it was difficult to gauge the reason for the scourge.
“I don’t know if people are just getting more vigilant and realising that these things have to be reported or if these alleged predators are just taking advantage of the fact that the area is grossly under-resourced.”
The only FCS unit in the region is based in George and has a squad of just 17 investigating officers covering the area from Pacaltsdorp, outside George, to Nature’s Valley, outside Plettenberg Bay.
In Port Elizabeth, there are 62 FCS unit investigators in the Motherwell and Mount Road clusters.
“These 62 investigators also have specialist prosecutors at the various courts across the Bay who assist with all related investigations,” one of the officers in the unit said.
The latest incident in Plett comes just two weeks after another alleged sex crime against a school child.
A 34-year-old handyman at a Plett preschool was arrested on June 8 after claims that he had allegedly sexually assaulted a six-year-old boy in the school’s bathroom.
During his court appearance the next day, it came to light that he had been out on parole during the time of the alleged incident and had two previous convictions – one for attempted murder and another for assault. He will apply for bail on Friday. On August 14, a 37-year-old Plett computer engineer will be appearing in court again after his arrest in January over alleged links to an international baby pornography network claimed to be aimed at paedophiles with fetishes for babies in nappies being sexually assaulted.
On August 20, a 52-year-old former Fraaisig Primary School teacher who allegedly raped a pupil, aged 12, in
‘ Look at the number of cases which have made headlines . . . to realise there is a problem
the school’s photocopying room will appear in court again.
He was arrested on August 21 2013 after the school’s principal allegedly caught him red-handed.
In April, a prominent George dentist, aged 43, was arrested after he allegedly sexually assaulted a 12-year-old boy.
The man, who cannot be named as he has not yet pleaded, had previously been convicted on charges including having sex with a minor and sentenced in December to four years under house arrest. He will be back in the dock on July 10. A 40-year-old man, who allegedly drugged his 12-year-old daughter and six of her friends during sleepovers, raped them and took naked photographs of the girls, appeared in the George Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
The matter was transferred to the town’s Thembalethu Regional Court where the accused will appear on July 20.
The man was arrested at his home in November. – Additional reporting by Shaun Gillham.